Osteoarthritis (OA) affects millions of people worldwide with its irreversible destruction of articular cartilage. Recently, the potential of using chondrogenic differentiated multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (cMSCs) for OA treatment is being assessed. Preliminary clinical studies have been encouraging. However current studies have also demonstrated that cMSCs are not biochemically and biomechanically identical to native articular chondrocytes (ACs). Thus, there is an urgent need for the implementation of proteomic applications as proteomics involve protein identification, relative quantification of proteins and studies of post-translational modification which reveal novel regulating processes of complex mechanisms such as in chondrogenesis. A comprehensive understanding of chondrogenesis is essential for the establishment of an effective cMSC model to regenerate cartilage. In this article, we will review current proteomic studies on chondrogenesis, focusing on recent findings and the proteomic approaches utilised.
Chondrocytes